A Chinese man who passed himself off as an editor and reporter of People's Daily, a newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), has been convicted of racketeering and sentenced to life in prison.

Liu Yonghong extorted a total of 3.79 million yuan (US$490,000) by claiming that, as a senior People's Daily reporter, he could use his influence to secure official posts, such as promotions or work transfers, according to the verdict of the Second Intermediate People's Court of Beijing, released on Wednesday.

Court documents showed Liu, with two accomplices, extorted 3.68 million yuan from a victim surnamed Zhu from March 2002 to September 2003. The three had previously extorted 110,000 yuan from two other victims in the late 1990s and in 2002, the court said.

The two alleged accomplices, Liu Haiqian and Zhu Di, were not tried with Liu and no information is available about their cases.

The court heard that Liu had been posing as deputy editor-in-chief of the People's Daily for a long time, claiming he could help grassroots officials deliver bribes to senior leaders in Beijing whom they did not have a chance to meet, the court said.

"Liu has seriously tarnished the image of the organizations concerned," the court said, noting that Liu's punishment took account of the fact that he refused to hand in most of the extorted money as well as the very negative impact of his crime.

It is not known whether Liu will appeal against his conviction.

The People's Daily commented on Wednesday that "criminal Liu has got what he deserved."

The Paper said despite rigorous discipline procedures there are still some people posing as staff of the Party's mouthpiece.

"The People's Daily has repeatedly asked each and every employee to strictly observe the law and always safeguard the reputation of the Party's key newspaper," the Paper said, adding that selling news reports for money "has always been banned."

It hailed the efforts of law enforcement agencies to "protect the image of the Party press and promote social justice."

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2007)